How good does Syracuse look. No seriously, HOW GOOD DO THEY LOOK?! Syracuse University, is looking damn good. Even great. I’d go so far as to say that, last night, Syracuse looked like a National Championship team. This is huge. Why you ask? Because although Syracuse has been solid all season, they have always had their weaknesses: playing from behind, foul shooting and focusing too much on getting ‘style’ points rather than just getting the damn ball in the bucket. There have been plenty of heart stopping games this season in which Syracuse barely squeaked out the W. (I think about the DePaul game that I was present at)

Otto!

The loss to Louisville on Valentine’s Day was the true test to this SU team. Would they let the loss affect their psyche? Their next test was a strong, albeit spotty, Georgetown team in Georgetown. Yes, they blew a huge lead, but they ultimately hung on to win the game, a win that, in my opinion, was crucial to the team’s destiny for the rest of the year. They let Providence hang in there the following Tuesday, but again, ultimately won.

So sets the stage for last night’s game, in which the #4 Syracuse Orange took on the #8 Villanova Wildcats. Villanova is a good team. They have cooled off recently, with losses in the BIG EAST, but Villanova is always a threat. They have had our number the past few years and no one thought that this was going to be an easy game. I thought that it would be a tough battle, going right down to the wire, with Syracuse winning by four…at the most.

Boy was I wrong.

Syracuse embarrassed Villanova. The final score, 95-77, isn’t even indicative of how dominating the Syracuse performance was. After trailing in the first half, SU went on a 20-6 run to end the half up by 10. Not a typo, a 20-6 run. As a second half team, Syracuse came out and brought their A-game, completely and utterly destroying the WildCats. Rautins was passing the ball around like candy, Onuako was MAKING FREE THROWS, Johnson was cream-cheesing threes. Villanova was flustered, called for traveling at every opportunity and were turning over the ball like they were in 7th grade gym class. No seriously, Villanova played like a bunch of middle schoolers last night. And I don’t think that it’s because Villanova is bad…I think it’s because Syracuse is THAT GOOD. Six Syracuse players had double digits last night. Wes Johnson had a double-double. Syracuse had 23 offensive rebounds. Rautins had 8 assists. Basically, Syracuse was unstoppable. They have depth that is almost unmatched in the entire country (maybe Kansas can compete on that level though) I’d actually feel a little bad for Villanova, if they weren’t Villanova.

de-nied!

So Ladies and Gentleman, Syracuse is your new #1 team come Monday. If they aren’t, we got come crazy BCS stuff going on here. Kansas and Kentucky lost. Syracuse’s win puts them over Purdue to clinch the number one spot. Don’t get me wrong, Purdue is a good team, they’re ALWAYS a good team, but they aren’t good like Syracuse. With the win last night, Syracuse improved it’s mark to 8-0 when facing ranked teams. Six of these wins were against top ten ranked opponents. As I stated earlier, Syracuse demolishing Villanova isn’t because ‘Nova is bad, it’s because Syracuse is good. Let’s look at the list of wins Syracuse has chalked up: Florida, West Virginia, Memphis, Georgetown (twice), UNC, Cal, Villanova, UConn, Notre Dame. While some of these teams are now disappointments (*cough UNC*), they weren’t at the time. They were ranked by TPTB, so they’re all legitimate wins. The loss to Pitt is understandable, as Pitt is always a force to be reckoned with, and the loss to Louisville was somewhat expected since we were playing so loose.

Purdue on the other hand…not so much. Listen, it’s not their fault that they play in the Big Ten, but they shouldn’t get a free pass to the number one spot. Purdue’s impressive wins on the season include: Tennessee, West Virginia, Ohio State and Illinois. Losses are Ohio State, Wisconsin and a thumping taken by Northwestern. Northwestern is the one that kills them the most, as Northwestern truly does, suck. Even if they beat #14 Michigan State today, it’s still not enough to move them up to number one. What kills them is splitting with OSU, if they won both, they’d definitely be in the running. Oh, and their star, Hummel, tore his ACL. So another set back for the Boilermakers.

Hummel tearing his ACL 😦

Basically, call me crazy, but I think embarrassing Villanova is gonna stand for more than beating a top 25 team. Anyone that says differently must not have seen the game last night. Syracuse played with fire, heart and they were absolutely STUNNING last night. Anyone that says Purdue should be #1 if they win today, is thinking with their heart and not their head. They just don’t have the resume that Syracuse does. They are a great team, and should have success in the tourney, but please, give me a break on the #1 ranking. That’s like me saying if Kansas won yesterday, SU should be #1. They shouldn’t be, they should have vaulted up to #2. (Not that that matters now) So here’s how I have the top five on Monday…let’s see if I’m close come Monday:

1) Syracuse Orange

2) Purdue Boilermakers (if they win)

3) Kansas Jayhawks

4) Duke Blue Devils

5) Kentucky Wild Cats

*I think if Purdue loses, you bump everyone up and then add K-State at #5. (I also would not be surprised if Kansas was #2 on Monday, for the same schedule reasons)

So what do you think? Who will be number 1 on Monday? Does Purdue legitimately have a shot at it? Where does Nova end up? (I’m betting #10), Where does Tennessee come into the picture?!. Does this change any of your brackets? Who am I overlooking?

So, my NFL picks last week weren’t in much better shape than my BCS bowl picks but I DID get my upset special correct. So here is a quick breakdown of who I ‘THINK’ will take it this week, although I’m fully aware that, because I pick these teams, they have a bigger probability of LOSING 🙂

Jets vs. Chargers-I’m going with the Chargers on this one. After their usual tepid start, the team is on FIRE and are winners of 11 straight. While I’m not a full believer in Phillip Rivers (he’s a jag too), I think the Chargers are a perrenial powerhouse. I am a HUGE fan of LT, not just because of his athletic ability, but also how he carries himself as a person. As for the Jets, it’s clear that the defense is carrying this team, but props to Mark Sanchez who turned in a solid effort last week against the Bengals (Everyone else finally on the ‘Palmer sucks’ bandwagon?’) I just don’t see him being able to stop the Chargers. I don’t think the Chargers are going to win the Superbowl–> they’ll run into Indy next week, but they won’t go out to the Jets either. But it’s been a fantastic end to a shaky rookie season by Sanchez where he notched his all important first playoff win.

Ravens vs. Colts– For many of the same reasons above, I pick the Colts. Ravens on a hot streak but it will end when they run into a team that is just all around better. Then I can breathe a sigh of relief because, as a Steelers fan, I hate the Ravens and I want nothing more than to see them lose. Especially when their motto is ‘Purple Power’…gag me.

Cardinals vs. Saints — This is my *Upset special* for the week folks. The Saints are awesome…and I WANT them to win, but they’ve been playing like dirt the last three weeks, with all of their starters IN. I’m not exactly sure what has been going on with them, but it’s almost like only one team needed to beat them and now every team can. The Cardinals have an AWFUL defense (yea they made that LAST play last week, but no one talked about how Aaron Rodgers had the nastiest face mask call I’ve seen in ten years and no one called it) but they also have Kurt Warner, and I think we all know not to ever count Kurt Warner out. Also, with some more legitimate rumors that this is Warner’s last season, I think the motivational factor for the Cards is at an all time high. So I’d hate to see it happen but I think it will, since the Saints are in this unbelievable funk.

Cowboys vs. Minnesota — after careful consideration, I’m NOT jumping on the Cowboys bandwagon. Ok, they beat up the Eagles three times this year, a team their familiar with. Romo seems to have broken his December/January streak, but we’re talking about Brett Favre and Adrian Peterson here. Brett Favre, as much as I hate to admit it, is still freaking awesome. He threw for 33 touchdowns this year and over 3,000 yards, add in Adrian Peterson and his PHENOMENAL year and you have the two best offensive weapons in the game…on one team. (Chris Johnson and Brees/Manning are all excellent, but they are on three different teams) No matter what anyone says, Romo and Barber are NOT the duo to take out the Vikings. I know there’s been some drama with Favre and Childress (seriously tho, after awhile, doesn’t everyone notice that the common equation in ALL of these tifts over the past couple years is Favre) but expect that to fall by the way-side. Vikings will win this one, but I expect the Cowboys to put up a decent fight

College Basketball

No. 5 ‘Cuse vs N0.9 WVU –today at noon. I think Syracuse will handle this one well. In my opinion, WVU ALWAYS seems to have a higher ranking than they deserve. They don’t seem able to put together a solid 40 minutes of basketball and always end up in the middle of the pack in the BIG EAST, (which makes them better than most of the teams in the US) So I’m saying ‘cuse take its.

Side Note: HOW DID KANSAS FALL ONLY FALL FROM NO.1 TO NO.3 AFTER LOSING TO NO. 15 TENNESSEE?! We got ourselves a ‘USC/BCS’ situation here…and I don’t like it.

What do YOU think about the NFL playoffs? What CBB do you like? Tune in tomorrow for my Australian Open preview (just in time!)

USC…one of the most respected collegiate football programs of all time hires LANE KIFFIN?! LANE KIFFIN!!!

What exactly has Lane Kiffin done to prove himself as a coach? Other than lead the Raiders to an abysmal 4-12 record in 2007? Or lead the team in 2008 to a 1-3 start before he was canned by Al Davis. His 20 game stint as Raiders head coach ended in a 5-15 record. To clarify, that means he wins 25% of the time….or as Brian Fantana would say 60% of the time, it works every time.

After getting fired from the Raiders, Kiffin takes a job with Tennessee. Let’s just quickly delve into the shit storm that Kiffin started during his 12-month tenure at Tennessee. First, he calls out Florida coach Urban Meyer for illegal recruiting practice. A claim he defends as being ok because they were just “comments he made at a breakfast,” yea, a public breakfast. (Note: in doing so he actually violated NCAA policy HIMSELF. whoops. might want to brush up on collegiate rules there, Lane) Then, he insults the high school of a player he is trying to recruit. Awesome. Let’s follow that up by publicly commenting on a recruitable NCAA player (once again, not allowed there pal). Add in some public, unfounded remarks about SEC rivals Georgia (“our program doesn’t need to cheat”) and South Carolina (“if you end up being a gamecock you’re going to pump gas the rest of your life”) and you have a huge mess. Not to mention, that Kiffin ends the season 7-6 with a loss in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl. Then he abandons the program for the USC job. And on top of it all, his name is LANE. What an Asshole.

And what the hell is USC thinking? What in the previous two paragraphs screams Marquee Coach? You cannot POSSIBLY tell me that USC thinks this is a good coaching move? Why? Cause Kiffin isn’t afraid to play a little dirty and clean a little house? Well he plays REALLY dirty, not only that but he has NOTHING to backup that he’s a good coach. Out of the 37 games he’s coached as a head coach at ANY level of football, he has won 13. 13 of 37. WTF USC?! WTF?! Do you really think that Kiffin can keep your program elite? Can compete in Rose Bowls and National Championships? I learned something young in life, don’t write checks your ass can’t cash, and Lane Kiffin just wrote the $140,000 Lamborghini from Dumb & Dumber. So, while I probably would have applauded Kiffin for his call outs had he ACTUALLY BEAT FLORIDA, but he didn’t. Maybe even if he would have PROOF that Georgia cheats…but he DOESN’T. You get my point?

No matter what, I just have no respect for someone that doesn’t have a sense of sportsmanship (i.e. Bill Belichick) and Lane Kiffin falls DIRECTLY into that category. Also, lets talk about the issue of LOYALTY. or should I say the lack of loyalty. I hate to say it but damn, doesn’t that mean ANYTHING anymore. I already know the answer is no, but it’s still hard to see every time. Kiffin signed a SIX YEAR DEAL, starts a completely unnecessary shit storm, and ABANDONS the team while leaving it an ABSOLUTE mess. It shouldn’t be allowed. Maybe UT thought it was the lesser of two evils, as I hear that Kiffin had to pay UT a cool $1 million to be released from his contract. I’m sure they’re probably relieved that Kiffin is somebody else’s problem now. But man, what an asshole. A bona-fide, unqualified asshole.